Emirates to start O'Hare service Tuesday

Hubert Frach, of Emirates Airlines, speaks about the start of service at Chicago's O'Hare airport. There will be daily service to Chicago with a flight arriving around 3 pm each afternoon. Chicago is the ninth U.S. city served by Emirates.

Hubert Frach, of Emirates Airlines, speaks about the start of service at Chicago's O'Hare airport. There will be daily service to Chicago with a flight arriving around 3 pm each afternoon. Chicago is the ninth U.S. city served by Emirates.

Gregory KarpTribune reporter

Middle East luxury airline Emirates will begin service Tuesday from Chicago O’Hare.

The first Emirates flight is slated to arrive at O’Hare at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates. The daily direct service from O’Hare, served by a Boeing 777-200 LR, will depart at 8:35 p.m. The flight is about 15 hours.

Chicago is the ninth U.S. city served by Emirates and has been “on the list for a while” as an addition for Emirates, said Hubert Frach, Emirates divisional senior vice president of commercial operations for the West. As a gateway to the Midwest U.S. and having its own strong corporate and leisure travel markets, Chicago “is just a natural choice,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dubai today is not only a destination but a connecting gateway to Asia, he said.

Emirates, which in 2013 Skytrax called the World’s Best Airline, is the largest operator of Boeing 777 aircraft, with 122 such passenger jets and 10 freighters. Late last year, it placed the largest order in aviation history for 150 Boeing 777s, valued at $76 billion.

Emirates will compete at O’Hare with not only U.S. carriers but other high-brow airlines from the Middle East, such as Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

The expansion of Emirates adds to controversy over whether foreign carriers have an unfair advantage over those in the U.S., whether through government subsidies, lower labor costs, fewer taxes and regulations and other factors.

“As an airline, as a player in global aviation, we certainly believe very much in competition and bringing choice to markets, to consumers,” Frach said. Both the U.S. and U.A.E. are open markets, he said. “I think it’s very beneficial for the consumer.”

Frach also made a distinction between state-owned, which Emirates is, and state-subsidized.

“With Emirates, the position is absolutely clear. We are not receiving subsidies. We are not state-funded,” he said. And, he said, Emirates buys fuel – a huge cost for any airline – from the same suppliers other airlines do.